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Hello. Could you please help me understand the difference between "deeply-rooted" and "deep-rooted"?
Thank you.
Most dictionaries and guides say that a hyphen should not be used after an adverb ending in -ly, so it should be "deeply rooted" instead of "deeply-rooted" (for example, see the "Hyphenating "-ly" adverbs" section from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them). Although many writers do actually use a hyphen after an -ly adverb, those sources would consider it a mistake.
However, hyphens are used after adverbs that do not end in -ly, e.g. "well-known" and "much-loved". The word "deep" is also an adverb, so we can make the hyphenated compound "deep-rooted".
Hello. Could you please help me understand the difference between "deeply-rooted" and "deep-rooted"?
Thank you.
Hi Ahmed Imam,
Most dictionaries and guides say that a hyphen should not be used after an adverb ending in -ly, so it should be "deeply rooted" instead of "deeply-rooted" (for example, see the "Hyphenating "-ly" adverbs" section from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/6-common-hypercorrections-and-how-to-avoid-them). Although many writers do actually use a hyphen after an -ly adverb, those sources would consider it a mistake.
However, hyphens are used after adverbs that do not end in -ly, e.g. "well-known" and "much-loved". The word "deep" is also an adverb, so we can make the hyphenated compound "deep-rooted".
I hope that helps.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team